Crash


The Giddy Game Show

Categories: Review: Software
Author: Rosetta McLeod
Publisher: Mirrorsoft
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #34

The Giddy Game Show

This program is a spin-off from Yorkshire Television's Giddy Game Show for very young children, and uses the same popular characters of Giddy, Gus, Gonna and Princess Galaxzena. The tour games on the tape are designed to help children recognise the letters of the alphabet and associate them with everyday objects.

The first game, 'Alphabet', introduces the child to the various letters, which are sensibly split into four groups. For each letter, a picture appears on the screen showing one of the characters with an object which starts with the letter being taught. The letter is displayed in the top left hand corner, and the word for the object shown, with its initial letter in a different colour, is at the bottom of the picture.

When the child can recognise the letters, he is ready to move on to game two, 'Jigsaw'. This time, nine squares are shown on the screen, with a letter in the middle one. The letter is then broken up into different pieces and the player has to put it back together again one piece at a time This is a very good way of drawing attention to the shape of a letter 'Hungry Gorilla ' is a simple game with two levels of difficulty. Pictures of six sorts of foods are displayed with a word at the bottom of the screen. One letter of the word is highlighted, and the player has to select the correct letter and picture to match up with the highlighted letter, so that Gorilla can be fed. Al level one. Giddy moves round the screen from picture to picture, and when he is hovering over the correct food. the child simply has to press SPACE. At the second level, however, the letters of the alphabet are split into four groups - a to f, g to l, m to s, and t to z.

In the final game, 'Princess Galaxzena and the Maze', the child has to help the princess to find her way to the castle to rescue the imprisoned king. On her way through the maze, she must avoid passing any objects beginning with one of the forbidden letters displayed on the screen. As acceptable objects are passed, their names are spelt out at the bottom of the picture. If the princess accidentally goes past three forbidden letters, she ends up in the dungeon with the king. This is a very enjoyable little game which motivates young children to succeed. A 12-page colour story book accompanies the game, explaining what to do, and reinforcing the skills being taught.

Comments

Control keys: SPACE and arrow keys
Keyboard play: good
Graphics: excellent
Use of colours: bright and clear

Rosetta McLeod

Other Reviews Of The Giddy Game Show For The Spectrum 48K


The Giddy Game Show (Mirrorsoft)
A review by Nicole Segre (Sinclair User)

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